Archive of Our Own

Katsuki has never been this angry in his life. This is quite an accomplishment, but he manages. How dare they not tell him, how dare they keep from him something that would “prevent him from focusing on his training.”
That is an excuse, and not a great one at that. They know it. Katsuki knows it. And they still didn’t tell him that Izuku was missing.
Angry tears (and maybe worried ones) burn Katsuki’s eyes as he stomps through the halls of All Might’s chief temple. The distance between here and the capital has never felt so vast.

The last time Katsuki saw Izuku, they were in the main temple, and Katsuki was leaving to finish his training as All Might’s Champion. Izuku was crying. (Katsuki was too, just a little)
He had told Izuku that a Champion’s Aide did not bawl his eyes out in public, which had made Izuku cry harder. As one of the future most important people in the kingdom, Katsuki had the ability to choose a Champion’s Aide. The title held almost as much influence as a noble’s, because Katsuki’s Aide, if he chose one, would have all the power to speak for him. In the capital, Katsuki had been approached by countless Lineage members looking to ingratiate themselves, but their hopes were in vain. Katsuki had decided on an Aide the minute he had learned of his birthright.
Izuku had been his first and only choice, the only one he would ever trust with the amount of influence over his power that an Aide had. Izuku, when informed of this, had predictably cried and tried to get Katsuki to choose someone who had actual influence over high society. Katsuki had snarled something about only choosing the best, which, of course, had led to another flood of tears.
In hindsight, Katsuki openly declaring his choice was maybe not the best plan. The High Priest had decided that Katsuki needed someone better suited to his needs, and after failing to convince Katsuki of this, had shipped him off to All Might’s temple early. Katsuki wouldn’t have been surprised if this “disappearing act” that Izuku had apparently pulled was another plot of the High Priest’s.

Izuku had apparently disappeared from Eraserhead’s temple, where he had gone to leave the yearly sacrifice. This was nearly two months ago. The High Priest had made the decision to keep the information from him in order not to “unduly distress him.” They had only told him now because Izuku had been officially declared dead, for lack of evidence to the contrary. The official view was that Izuku had found life in the capital too hard without Katsuki and had left, before presumably tripping down an embankment and falling into a stream and drowning, or something like that. Katsuki hadn’t really been listening by that point.
Katsuki had other opinions on this.
Izuku had visited Eraserhead’s temple only once, when they were passing it on their way into the capital for the first time. It was too far out to make the trip daily, and Katsuki had never seen Izuku go since. The yearly sacrifice was way too important to be left by a 15 year old, regardless of what Lineage they belonged to.
They hadn’t told him until now so that there would be no opposition to their decision to stop whatever searches they had made, if any.
Besides, Izuku was entirely too stubborn to just quit the capital altogether, no matter what had happened when Katsuki couldn’t be there to protect him. Katsuki should have been there. Forget All Might. Izuku should have been more important.
Katsuki threw himself down on the grass behind the tall hedge that ran around the garden at the back of the temple. This was his favorite spot. The view from the top of the mountain the temple perched on was at its best here. He had picked it out because Izuku would have liked it. He had been planning on bringing him back here once they were both finished with their schooling.
Without his permission, Katsuki’s eyes burned.
He swiped at them angrily. Being angry was better than being sad. Izuku wasn’t dead, he was too slippery for that. He was probably stuck somewhere, miserable without Katsuki to come and rescue him as he always had.
His back straightened. If Izuku was alive (he was, he had to be) then all Katsuki had to do was find him. Then they could prove everyone wrong about Izuku. He couldn’t have people thinking that Katsuki had made the wrong choice, afterall.

—----------

Katsuki started small. Small was, admittedly, what most people would consider gigantic, but Katsuki wasn’t most people.
This was All Might’s most sacred temple, and as the most important god in the pantheon, even other gods sometimes showed up to pay respects. None of the really important gods did so, but it was probably better to approach one of the smaller ones anyway. Katsuki was reckless and admitted it, but he wasn’t actually suicidal.
There was a minor god, Tsukauchi, the god of truth, who came sporadically whenever he happened to be in the area. He liked people who told the truth, so hypothetically, all Katsuki had to do was tell the truth about being concerned for Izuku’s safety.
In reality, of course, a conversation with a god could go wrong very quickly and all Katsuki had to fall back on was that he was All Might’s Champion and so couldn’t be struck down without angering the god.
Katsuki has never been known for his caution. That was why he had Izuku. Now he doesn’t have Izuku, so the next time Tsukauchi was seen in the temple, he marched straight up to him, ignoring the panicked looks from the priests.
The god, probably unused to teenagers boldly walking up to him, raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
Katsuki took a breath. Keeping his gaze on the floor and trying his best to utilize every tip that his tutor had ever drilled into him for speaking to gods, he opened his mouth. “Lineage Upholder Champion Bakugo Katsuki greets the great god Tsukauchi.”
He waited. He couldn’t say anything else until Tsukauchi decided whether or not to accept his greeting. It was unusual to be personally approached by All Might’s Champion, though, so…
“I accept your greeting, young Champion. Speak.”
Katsuki took another breath. The first hurdle was overcome, but he couldn’t get riled up now thinking about the High Priest. Speaking slowly and politely, he outlined his request and the reasons for it.
When he finished, he stared at the god’s shoes and waited. When the answer came, it almost sounded like the god was smiling. “Your concern for your friend distinguishes you, Champion Bakugo. I am bound by the laws of the divine, but I can tell you that the chosen of Eraserhead is safe and thriving.”
Katsuki blinked. “Wait, what?” He bit back a curse when he realized that was not something he should have said. Thankfully, when he glanced up, the god was already gone. He had blinked away before Katsuki could thank him.
He was privately grateful for that. He had never been good at thanking people. It always sounded backhanded, somehow.
He ignored the frantic questions of the priests as he walked slowly back out to his corner of the garden. Katsuki had decided that since he was hunting Izuku, he would try to think like him. He took out a little notebook that he had found tucked into one of his old pairs of socks. Izuku’s cramped handwriting wobbled across the first couple pages. They always used to share everything. Katsuki was used to coming across Izuku’s things in his own trunk. Now, though, he stared at the pages before carefully ripping them out and tucking them into his pocket.
Then, he scribbled down what he had learned.

-Asked Tsukauchi what he could tell me about Izuku.-
Learned: that Izuku is safe, that Izuku has become Eraserhead’s chosen.
Inferences: Izuku disappeared because Eraserhead chose him. Izuku is currently in the godly realm.
Conclusion: If I want to find Izuku, I have to find a way into the godly realm.

Katsuki stuck his pen back into his pocket. Izuku always was scribbling in his notebooks. Already, Katsuki could feel the nerd wafting off the notebook and diminishing his cool factor. If it meant it would help, though, he would have to put up with looking like an idiot.
He flopped back and sighed through his nose, staring at the tree above him. The leaves were the same color as Izuku’s hair.
He felt the now familiar burning in his eyes. He shoved it away mentally, sitting up and pulling back out his pen.
If Tsukauchi couldn’t tell him where Izuku was, he would have to find out for himself. And there was only one god that he technically had access to that nobody could overrule.

—------------

Katsuki flopped back on his bed. He was more exhausted than he had ever been in his life. Who knew that being nice to people was so hard?
After his little talk with Tsukauchi, Katsuki had made a plan. The one person who he could think of who would (hopefully) actually listen to him and then (hopefully) actually be able to do something about his problem was All Might himself.
So, Katsuki would simply call up the most important god in the entire pantheon, ask a couple questions, maybe get a little magical help, and absolutely not risk being smited for impertinence.
If he ends up being a cautionary tale for babies three hundred years from now, he’s coming back from the dead to haunt Izuku for making him do this.
The first step in his plan was simple. He knew that, as All Might’s Champion, if he knew the right piece of magic to cast to actually get the god’s attention, he had a fairly good shot at the god of the day showing up.
Champions had been consulting with their patron god for as long as Champions had been a thing, so there had to be something for it. The first issue was to find that something in the mountain of records about former Champions that existed in the temple.
Katsuki had spent nearly four days combing old, dusty scrolls in the temple’s library. The record keepers had been excited about his finally taking an interest in his predecessors and had helped him find what he wanted after two days of edging around actually saying straight out that he wanted a godly summoning spell and another two of searching. He had eventually walked out of the library with an unfortunately very thick volume of spellwork used by previous Champions.
The next problem was learning which was the actual spell. His tutors, for obvious reasons, likely wouldn’t want to interrupt their lesson plans to teach him magic that was probably maybe sorta definitely above his skill level.
This meant that Katsuki had to get creative with how he approached the topic. He had spent another two days carefully talking around the subject. He hadn’t ever spoken this much in lessons before. His tutors seemed to share the opinion of most of the temple; that Katsuki’s talk with Tsukauchi had lit a fire of passion in him to do his best and excel.
Katsuki thought that that was cheesy, but he played into it because it meant that his tutors were willing to stay after class time had ended to discuss the previous Champions with him. Half-way through the second day, someone connected the, in hindsight, inevitable (and wrong) dots.
His history tutor had pulled him aside and given him a sappy little speech about how Katsuki was only just starting his education and how he didn’t need to feel any pressure to measure up to his predecessors. Katsuki had nearly lit into her out of frustration and anxiety. He didn’t need empty platitudes, he needed information.
It had been nearly a week since he had been told that Izuku had been missing. In another week, he would have been missing for two months. The trail was growing colder by the hour, and Katsuki was totally not feeling the pressure.
However, he had curbed his own temper and given her an even sappier reply about how so-and-so had been better at this and how whatever-his-name-was had done that by now. He was “so worried,” he had told her, because he didn’t feel this connection to All Might the way all the stories said he would.
He had no doubt that his reputation was going down the drain at the moment, but it didn’t matter. He had what he wanted.
She had given him an infuriatingly vague description of the ritual that would help foster the relationship between patron and Champion. However vague it had been, it had been enough to help him pinpoint the right spell. He hoped. If it wasn’t the right one, he probably wouldn’t live long enough to face consequences anyway.
The third problem, which Katsuki was not looking forward to tackling, was finding the ingredients for the ritual. He had been hoping it would be just a spell, which he could simply speak aloud to reap the benefits of. As he had secretly suspected, it was a full on ritual instead, which needed ingredients and a chalk diagram.
It was to be expected, he supposed, that something involving the god of the day would need to be a ritual, which would deal with higher quantities of magic, but it was still irritating. There was probably also a spell, since nothing in the records mentioned the previous Champions having to draw out an entire ritual every time they consulted All Might, but Katsuki didn’t have time to find it.
Katsuki turned over and slammed his head into his pillow. He couldn’t breathe, but it felt satisfying to headbutt something. He was about to do it again when small paws pattered up his spine and a weight settled on his lower back.
Katsuki paused. He slowly turned his head over his shoulder.
There was a cat sitting on his back. It was black with white paws. It was blinking at him like he was the one in its bed.
Katsuki turned over and sat up. The cat moved along with him and settled on the end of the bed. It was still staring at him. He had left the window open this morning, he remembered. The cat must have gotten in that way.
Most people would have expected Katsuki to be angry. He generally liked animals better than people, though. He wouldn’t mind, except the cat was still staring at him. He stared aggressively back.
It blinked. He blinked harder. This fascinating staring contest probably would have gone on forever, but the cat caught sight of a bird outside of the open window. In a flash, it was gone, hurling itself after the bird like a furry missile.
Katsuki considered. There weren’t a lot of people nearby for the cat to belong to, and it didn’t belong to the temple. He liked people that stood up for themselves. The cat had kind of stood up for itself. It had certainly seemed completely unimpressed by his posturing. Did he have a cat now? He decided that he did.
Izuku would think this was funny, he thought. He would probably try to name the cat something stupid. Well, Izuku wasn’t here, so Katsuki would name the cat and Izuku, when he found him, would just have to suck it up.
Katsuki got back to work. He needed to find a spot to hold the ritual that wasn’t his bedroom, where people could walk in on him.

—-----------

Katsuki absentmindedly scratched Missy (short for Missile) behind her ears as he worked. He finished the last line and stood back to survey the result, swiping chalk dust off his hands. The diagram had to be perfect.
The perfect diagram in question looked exactly as it had the last thirty times Katsuki had practiced it in his notebook, only bigger. Satisfied, Katsuki moved on to the next step, pooling his hard-won ingredients in a little bowl he had stolen from the temple kitchen. It had taken him another three days to collect all of them.
Every day, he had grown more anxious (and more snappish, much to the chagrin of his tutors) as the two month mark grew nearer. He had read once that after the first week or so, a missing person’s chances of being found were cut in half. He just hoped that since he knew where Izuku probably was, the chances would hold out, even if Izuku hadn’t technically been found yet.
There were entirely too many “probably’s” in his plan for comfort.
All Might would probably show up and probably not smite him and probably be willing to help him find Izuku and Izuku would probably be okay and Eraserhead would probably let Izuku come home with Katsuki.
It was his best shot, though.
Katsuki finished grinding the ingredients together.
He portioned a little of the mixture out on each point of the star that was a main feature of the diagram drawn in chalk on the floor of the cellar that Katsuki had carefully cleared out to serve as his ritual room.
He really hoped All Might wouldn’t be offended by being summoned to a dark, dank cellar that was, despite Katsuki’s best efforts, still dusty instead of to the temple’s actual ritual room.
He lifted the scroll to his eyes, squinted at the small, faded writing, and started the ritual. He spoke the words of the incantation that he had practiced slowly and carefully.
When he finished, he looked around.
Nothing happened.
A few seconds later, there was still nothing.
Katsuki sighed. Time to come up with a new plan.
“Greetings, young Champion Bakugo!”
Katsuki nearly jumped out of his skin. A man was standing on the other side of the chalk diagram, smiling a smile that Katsuki had seen in paintings since he was two years old. All Might was way taller than Katsuki had expected, his muscled form towering over Katsuki. Belatedly, Katsuki realized that, shit, that was actually All Might, he should maybe not be standing here staring like an idiot.
He dropped to his knees, pressing his forehead against the floor in one practiced movement.
(He had asked his etiquette teacher how he should greet important gods, and though confused as to why he wanted to know so urgently, he had taught Katsuki the proper bow.)
“Lineage Upholder Champion Bakugo Katsuki greets the great god All Might.” Katsuki mumbled into the floor. It was still dusty. He wanted to sneeze.
“I accept your greeting, my boy! Please, get up. I have been wondering when I would be called upon for the first time. This is quicker than I expected, but that must mean you are making great progress in your studies!”
All Might cheerily babbled on as he helped Katsuki up and started to dust him off in slightly painful, if well-intended swats.
Katsuki, meanwhile, was reevaluating his opinion of All Might as someone who should be feared. Don’t get him wrong, there was an undeniable aura of power about All Might that whispered that this was not someone to cross. But the god was smiling warmly, and Katsuki was reminded that though All Might was primarily the god of the day, he was also a protection god. The protection god in question had now moved on to petting Missy, who was accepting his attentions with dignity.
The god straightened up, Missy purring happily in his arms. “Now, young Bakugo! I believe there is probably something you wish to tell me? I cannot think of another reason why we have sequestered ourselves in the cellar of my temple.”
Katsuki took a deep breath. This was it.
In a rush of words, he spilled the entire story to All Might, whose smile dimmed considerably as he took in Katsuki’s tale.
When he finished, Katsuki stared at the ground. Missy, oblivious, was still purring as All Might scratched her consideringly behind the ears.
“It seems like the reports of you I have received have been wrong, my boy.”
Katsuki looked up. All Might was smiling at him again, more softly this time. “So far, most of what I have heard portrayed you as someone who was angry constantly and did not care about other people’s feelings.”
“That’s not entirely wrong.” Katsuki mumbled.
“But the part about you not caring about others is, young Bakugo. The single most important trait a Champion can possess is that of empathy. It concerned me that you did not seem to possess this yet. Apparently, I was wrong. You have gone to extreme lengths to ensure the safety of your friend. I am pleased to find that I was correct in my choice of Champion.”
Katsuki felt like he had just drunk something warm and frothy. All Might was proud of him? He pushed the feeling away sternly. He had more important things to focus on.
“He’s my best friend and my Aide. I need to find him.”
(He hoped All Might wouldn’t tell Izuku he had called him his best friend. Even if it was true, he had a reputation.)
“I understand. I will gladly lend my assistance to your noble quest, young Bakugo.”
Katsuki stared at the god in amazement. He hadn’t expected it to be that easy. All Might placed a hand on Katsuki’s shoulder, steadying Missy with the other. Before Katsuki could ask what All Might was doing, the three were gone.

—--------------

They reappeared in the single most extravagantly fancy palace Katsuki had ever seen. It was gigantic, with pearly walls and gilt along the corners of the ceilings.
All Might patted his shoulder, nearly knocking him down. “This is the Council House of the gods, young Bakugo! It is the one place where all the gods congregate. My personal apartments, as well as those of all the other gods, are completely separate and decorated according to our own personal tastes, usually ones less extravagant than this.”
Katsuki followed All Might through the palace, keeping a tight hold on Missy. He did not want to chase her through this place, where even the smallest object looked like it cost more than the house where he had grown up.
All Might directed him into an office, seating him in a chair that seemed to swallow him up. It was very soft, and so tall his feet didn’t touch the floor. It was more muted here, but still richly furnished. All Might seated himself behind the enormous desk.
“Your friend, according to the latest news I’ve heard, is staying with Eraserhead. It would be incredibly rude for me to just drop you in, however. As I wish you to actually see your friend instead of being smited, I shall write for permission to bring you. While you wait, would you like-”
“Send it now.” Katsuki demanded, barely registering that he’d just interrupted All Might. “Send the note now.”
All Might blinked. Katsuki saw his eyes soften a little. He scribbled on a piece of fancy paper before ringing a bell that sat on the corner of the desk. A wraith-like figure swooped in, hovering by the door.
A spirit, Katsuki figured. There were plenty of legends of particularly faithful disciples of the gods rising to serve them for eternity. It didn’t sound appealing to Katsuki, but there was nothing in the legends saying that the spirits were trapped, so they must find something good about their job. All Might handed the paper to the spirit.
“To Eraserhead, by express mail.”
The spirit dipped its head and departed.
“Now, what about a tour?” All Might asked cheerfully.
Katsuki wasn’t particularly in the mood to refuse the god anything, so on a tour they went. Katsuki had to admit that the building was incredible. All Might seemed to be going out of his way to show him things that pertained to him and the former Champions, which he appreciated. He took special note of the cavernous hall lined with chairs that looked more like thrones. The Council Hall of the gods was where Katsuki would eventually be recognised as the official Champion in the eyes of the gods. He appreciated All Might showing him beforehand. If he had walked into the room, bigger than the entire temple where he currently lived, without ever having seen it before, he thought he would have done something embarrassing.
It was when they were exiting this room that the answer to All Might’s letter came. A spirit dropped it into his hand and left without ceremony.
All Might beamed at him.
“Permission has been granted for you to visit Eraserhead’s home!”
Katsuki spent the rest of their short walk back to All Might’s office reviewing his godly etiquette. They picked up Missy from All Might’s office, where they had left her to avoid any unfortunate accidents with the rich carpet, and All Might promptly zapped them straight out of the building.

They popped back into existence on the front door step of a house that was, thankfully, much less impressive than the Council House.
It was still nice, more like a noble’s than a commoner’s, but it wasn’t made of marble and there was a wilting flower bush in a pot with small painted handprints on it next to the door. Katsuki vaguely remembered something about Eraserhead having a kid. Maybe a godling too, he wasn’t sure. He’d stopped paying attention at that point in the lecture.
All Might had said something about most gods having milder tastes than the Council House. He wondered if being worshipped spoiled a person’s tastes for luxury. From what he had seen of the gods’ residences, he doubted it.
Missy was wound around All Might’s shoulders, pawing at his ears. All Might gently stopped her from biting his earlobe, then reached over Katsuki’s head to knock on the door.
It was answered almost immediately by an extremely familiar head of blond hair.
“Hey! Come on in.” Present Mic, the god of music and dance, greeted them. He was smiling almost as big as All Might.
The god of the day stepped into the house, greeting Present Mic like an old friend. Katsuki, who hadn’t expected yet another major god, followed quietly. Present Mic turned to him sooner than he expected.
“You must be the visitor All Might mentioned in his message! What’s up, kiddo?”
Katsuki wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that, so he was grateful that he already had a response for the first time he was acknowledged by the god. “Lineage Upholder Champion Bakugo Katsuki greets the great god Present Mic.”
He did his best to speak loudly enough to be heard this time. His tutor always scolded him for mumbling his greetings.
“I accept your greeting!” Present Mic hummed. “You don’t have to stand on formalities, though! We try to leave the “god” mantles at the door and just be people here.”
Katsuki had never imagined that gods wanted to be “just” anything, but he nodded nonetheless. Present Mic showed them into a living room with comfortable looking couches and a lot of books. He told them to make themselves comfortable, then disappeared to find Eraserhead. Katsuki, trying to distract himself from the pleading he was probably going to have to do in the future to get Eraserhead to allow Izuku to come back with him (or at least to let Katsuki visit), wandered over to one of the shelves and started to read the titles of the books.
All Might had taken Present Mic’s words at face value and made himself comfortable on one of the couches, Missy still curled around his shoulders.
Entirely too soon for Katsuki’s taste, there was a knock on the doorframe, and a man dressed in black walked into the room. Present Mic stood behind him in the doorway.
The man who was presumably Eraserhead greeted All Might with an inclination of the head, which All Might returned. Katsuki came back to stand by the couches. “Lineage Upholder Champion Bakugo Katsuki greets the great god Eraserhead.” “Greeting accepted.” Eraserhead’s voice was gruff, but not necessarily unfriendly.
Katsuki really hoped it wasn’t unfriendly.
There was a silence. Eraserhead clearly expected Katsuki to explain why he had called this meeting. Katsuki didn’t know how to start. All the frustrated feelings that he had been pushing down were bubbling up to the surface as he looked at the man with the giant scarf. This was the guy who had taken his Izuku away from him. Katsuki wanted to yell at the god. He had stolen Izuku, he had kept him away and made everyone think he was dead, and the guy’s scarf looked really stupid.
Eraserhead looked at Katsuki. Katsuki looked at Eraserhead. All Might looked awkward. Katsuki proceeded to completely ignore both his tutor’s and Izuku’s voice in his head telling him that this was a bad idea. He’d met and bossed around All Might, afterall, how bad could Eraserhead be?
“You stole my best friend!”
Eraserhead blinked. He looked like he had expected literally anything other than what Katsuki had actually said. Present Mic came fully into the room from where he had been leaning on the door frame. “What do you mean, kiddo?”
Katsuki, still ignoring Izuku screaming in his head, glared at Present Mic. He was actually terrified, but hell if he was going to show it. “His name is Midoriya Izuku, and you stole him! He-” To his horror, Katsuki started to sniffle. “He just disappeared, and I wasn’t there, and no one told me until last week, and-”
“Oh, kiddo.” Present Mic looked like he wanted to cry too. He stepped in front of Eraserhead, who had stopped half-glaring at Katsuki, and held out his arms. Katsuki would normally have died rather than accept a hug from a stranger in front of other people, but sue him, it had been a really long week.
Present Mic gave good hugs. Katsuki remembered a story his mother had told him and Izuku about how a young and mischievous Present Mic had stolen a bit of the sun’s energy as All Might had made it. He wondered if that was true. Present Mic certainly seemed to radiate warmth and safety.
A couple tears had slipped down Katsuki’s cheeks before he knew it. He pulled away immediately, scrubbing roughly at his eyes. Present Mic caught his hand and pressed it in his own. “Don’t do that, sweetheart, you’ll hurt your eyes.”
A damp hand towel fell onto Katsuki’s head. Eraserhead stared at him. “I don’t know how you made it here, but how did you know he was alive, if everyone thought he was dead?”
Katsuki knew he was acting ridiculous, but he couldn’t help how he immediately sat up straighter, fixing the god with anxious eyes. “Sho!” Present Mic chastised. “Izuku is fine, sweetheart. He’s alive and unhurt.”
At that, the first outright confirmation of Izuku’s safety since Tsukauchi, Katsuki really did start crying. He turned away, swiping at his face with the towel, until Present Mic took the towel and pulled him into another hug, patting at his face much more gently.
Katsuki bawled like he hadn’t since he was five. Present Mic didn’t try to shake him until he acted like a Champion should like the priests at the temple did, just rocked him back and forth and shushed him quietly.
Behind him, Katsuki could hear All Might explaining what Katsuki had told him to Eraserhead. He knew Present Mic was listening over his head, and he tried to hush himself so the god of music could hear better. He couldn’t stop crying, though, and Present Mic didn’t seem to mind.
When he eventually ran out of tears, he sat up long enough to drink a glass of water and then was tucked back into Present Mic’s side.
A blanket was dropped on his head, and he pushed it out of his eyes to see All Might leaning over the back of the couch. “Eraserhead has kindly offered to take you home whenever you wish to go, young Bakugo. I have other matters to attend to, but I am rarely too busy for my Champions, if you ever have need of my assistance or time again. I would rather like to meet this Midoriya you speak so highly of, if he is willing.”
The god winked, and then was gone in the time it took Katsuki to blink.
Eraserhead was sitting on the other couch. Missy had been sitting calmly in his lap, but now she sprang across to Katsuki and wound around his neck.
“Who’s this?” Present Mic asked, scratching the cat behind the ears. “According to All Might, her name is Missy.” Eraserhead responded, glancing at Katsuki. Katsuki nodded confirmation. “-t’s short for Missile.” He mumbled into Present Mic’s shoulder.
“Ah. Well, I’m sure it’s an apt name.” The god responded cheerfully, standing up and pulling Katsuki gently up with him. “Izuku and our other son, Shinsou Hitoshi, are currently taking our daughter, Eri, to her friend’s house. I’ll assume you want to wait for his return, so why don’t we head to the kitchen. It sounds like you’ve had quite a day, and that means you’re probably hungry, hm?”
Katsuki did nothing to dissuade him from this. (He was actually starving, but hadn’t really wanted to ask All Might for food.)
Eraserhead promptly shepherded him to the kitchen table, dumping the blanket back on his shoulders when he tried to leave it on the couch. Katsuki didn’t complain.
Present Mic was already buzzing around the kitchen happily. Katsuki had been put in a chair that had a good view of both the exits to the kitchen and dining room and of both of the gods as one cooked and one set the table.
Whatever Present Mic was making smelled good. It smelled rich and spicy. Katsuki hadn’t had spicy food since arriving at All Might’s temple, and hadn’t had good spicy food since he had started attending at the main temple. It had been so long since he had been allowed to cook his own food.
He made up his mind. Shyly, he approached Present Mic.
“Can I help?”
Present Mic looked pleased. “Sure, kiddo! Izuku said that you like spicy food, right?” Katsuki nodded.
“Grab an apron, kiddo.”